Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Jazz
As much as I hate to further derail this, I've got one last tidbit to cement my contention. Hogan never beat Nelson head to head in a final round, including their first matchup when they played for the caddy championship as kids. And Nelson retired in his prime to go be a rancher, so the numbers you're looking at are necessarily skewed. Add in WWII, and there's even more debate. But the lack of Hogan victories speaks volumes to me.
Hogan's a great story and a very interesting individual (especially since he essentially watch his father commit suicide), but Nelson was the better golfer.
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I think you're the only one pounding this drum. Golf Digest (before Tiger was really in consideration) even ranked Hogan 2nd all time versus 5th for Nelson.
Nelson had a great win streak in 1945 when the rest of the world was at war. It's a fantastic streak - but over the course of a career, Hogan has more wins, more majors, and overcame enormous adversity.
Of the three originally mentioned (Jack, Arnie and Hogan) I would say that Arnie is the most overrated in terms of what he did on a golf course - but he changed people's perceptions of golf, and that is his enduring legacy.